Ethiopian cuisine offers a unique and flavorful experience, characterized by the use of injera, a spongy flatbread made from teff, used to scoop up a variety of dishes. Many dishes are cooked with berbere, a spice blend similar to chili powder, adding depth and warmth to the flavors.
Let's explore some Ethiopian restaurants and their offerings:
Taste of Ethiopia II (South Congress)
Located at the bottom of an apartment complex on South Congress, Taste of Ethiopia II is the second location from the same owners. The dining room is large, but thanks to the woven baskets on every table and friendly service, a meal here feels cozy and inviting. There’s a buffet during lunch on weekdays-with lots of meat and vegetable options-but you can also order off the full menu anytime.
Everything we’ve had has been cooked well, but most of the dishes have a more mellow spice profile than other Ethiopian spots in town. The added bonus is that there’s a full bar where you can order your usual Heineken, or from a small selection of Ethiopian beers and honey wine.
Read also: Flavor of African Pompano
A Look Back: Taste of Ethiopia (Original Location)
I reviewed Taste of Ethiopia, when it first opened 12 years ago in a different location, and waxed rhapsodic: “flavors… so deep and so true that you may suspect you’ve never really experienced a lentil, a collard so intimately.” This time, though the experience was as lovely as ever and the service charming, I can’t get as excited, as the food has slipped.
Just in case there’s one reader left who hasn’t eaten Ethiopian, it works like this: You use injera, a spongy flatbread made simply from water and the ancient grain teff to scoop up your food - no flatware. The way most American customers order is to get a sampler platter; owner Meski Gebreyohannes offers a vegetarian version with six vegetables and legumes, or a meat one with lamb, chicken, and beef, plus two vegetables.
The vegetarian dishes are imported-from-Ethiopia ground chickpeas, red and green lentils, collards, steamed cabbage and carrots with ginger, greens beans and carrots, steamed potatoes, split peas, and squash. Many are cooked with berbere, similar to chili powder in taste and color. You can order a whole entrée of any of these, or of the meat dishes, if you don’t want to go the sampler route.
I liked the pungent lamb that Gebreyohannes offers three ways, though it was pretty sinewy in both mild yebeg alicha and spicier awaze tibs, marinated with berbere. The server warned me away from fasika tibs, which she described as plain and dry lamb, with no sauce, and I’m sure she was right.
My memory is of happy differences among the three versions each of chicken and beef, but that was less true this time. I advised my friend not to order the fried tilapia entrée, and like our server, I was right: “Mrs. Paul’s,” he opined.
Read also: Flavors and Traditions of East Africa
Drinks and Desserts
Gebreyohannes has expanded her original menu to add a long list of drinks: cocktails, beer and wine, fresh juices, and smoothies. They were out of Ethiopian beer or tonic for gin and tonic when we visited, but served up a large and potent Dark and Stormy, the ginger beer offering a good counterpart to the spicy food.
We loved the soup of the day, shorba, a thick and spicy golden butternut squash. Dessert borrows from a number of cultures. It can be baklava, vegan cheesecake, or fried plantains with caramel sauce and ice cream, which sounds like delightful excess. We chose ice cream with dates, and it turned out to be caramel-like Medjool dates, twice the size and twice the sweetness of other dates, atop a rich vanilla: a sweet consolation.
How to make injera starter/ersho naturally without yeast
Blue Nile (Ann Arbor)
Similar to Blue Nile in Ann Arbor, the staple at this family-owned Ethiopian restaurant in Southfield is a platter of side dishes served up with injera bread. There are meat and vegetarian options, plus options to try authentic Ethiopian drinks and desserts.
Read also: A Taste of Egypt
Summary of Ethiopian Dishes and Flavors
Here is a summary of some of the common dishes and flavors you might encounter:
| Dish | Description | Key Ingredients |
|---|---|---|
| Injera | Spongy flatbread | Teff, water |
| Berbere | Spice blend | Chili peppers, garlic, ginger, basil, and other spices |
| Yebeg Alicha | Mild lamb stew | Lamb, mild spices |
| Awaze Tibs | Spicy lamb dish | Lamb, berbere |
| Shorba | Soup | Butternut squash, spices |
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